


Marked For Error

by rancheel



Category: Original Work
Genre: Enemies to Friends, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, F/M, Friends to Enemies, Friends to Lovers, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rating May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-03
Updated: 2019-03-06
Packaged: 2019-10-21 20:29:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17649353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rancheel/pseuds/rancheel
Summary: The Universal Agency has been informed that The Abditive Agency needs their assistance due to their headquarters being obliterated by an American agency called "The Incessant Agency."Nicola Sexton, one of Universal's and Europe's top agents, gains a third leader of her now co-operated agency, and five new partners to try and take down the American agency before it's too late.





	1. Europe's Top Two Agents Finally Meet

**Author's Note:**

> hello! welcome to my first original work! i've been working on this in between writing for fandoms and working through some personal things. this is also being posted onto my new Wattpad account! i can assure you, i'm not stealing my own work.

Nicola grunted with the bandana in her mouth as she was shoved into the metal chair in the middle of the shitty room, hearing her kidnappers talking amongst themselves before one walked in front of her, yanking the bag off of her head.

The first thing she was met with was Picasso's painting of The Blue Room.

After the bag, someone yanked the bandana out of her mouth. She took in a huge breath of air before making eye contact with the man in front of her through the black sun glasses while the other men got to work on tying her ankles to the steel of the chair as her bound hands moved to her lap.

"So, we _finally_ meet, Agent Picasso," Nicola spoke slowly, smirking as she watched the man take a few steps back, probably making eye contact with a few men behind her.

"What? Taken back by number two on the list?" She teased before she threw her head back to hit the man that was behind her, hearing him stumble before a gun was pressed to the side of her head as a hand gripped her hair back tightly to keep her straight up. Her breathing spiked before the man before her spoke.

"Oh, I assure you, Agent Venus, I am not intimidated in the slightest," The man spoke evenly, making eye contact again before Nicola realized the voice sounded familiar. _Too_ familiar.

"Hey, hey! Enough! _Jesus Christ_ , untie the poor girl!" A voice over the intercom said, causing all the people in the room to look up at the ceiling as there was clanking at the door.

In mere seconds, Clara rushed in and sent the men behind Nicola out, moving to untie her ankles as she started speaking.

"Sorry for the dramatics, Collingwood loves those," Clara said gently, Nicola raising a brow and glancing down while she started rolling her ankles once Clara removed the rope from around them. She then moved in front of Nicola to work on her bound hands.

"Sure, dramatics.." Nicola trailed off, confused as to what was going on before she heard Picasso clear his throat.

"Oh, right!" Clara exclaimed, jumping up before finishing the ties around Nicola's wrists.

"We're partnering with the Abditive Agency!"

Nicola stood abruptly, looking right at her boss.

"I'm sorry, _what_?"

"We were instructed to take down a big agency. The only way we can do that is with the help of our rivals. I was informed you knew someone on the team so I thought it'd be beneficial-"

"Hold on," Nicola started, lifting her tied hands up first, shooting nervous glances at Picasso who didn't move to take his cover off. "Get my hands free, first please. Explain later."

"Well I don't need to explain much-" Clara started again as she moved to continue messing with the knot that was made on Nicola's hands as Picasso removed his sunglasses and mask slowly, revealing Logan's face.

Nicola's eyes widened and Clara looked at her with some hope once the rope was free from her wrists.

Logan's face was just as shocked as Nicola's was.

"Clara?"

"Yeah, Nic?"

"Please give me and _Picasso_ ," she spat, looking right at Logan over Clara's shoulder, "a moment alone. Alone alone. No listening in."

Clara stopped and stood up straight, fixing her pantsuit, looking at the two as they had a stare off. All she did was nod and walked out, her heels clacking against the floor of the room as she left.

"I didn't think you'd be a backstabbing traitor, Sexton," Logan said, his thick accent reverberating off of the walls of the concrete room.

"And I thought you wouldn't be one to kidnapping people, but hey," Nicola started, moving to stand closer and right in front of her closest friend, staring right back into his eyes. "Everyone is full of surprises."


	2. Tension

"So, you're telling me that the world's biggest agency is trying to overthrow the _American_ government and they want European agents to deal with it?" Hugo questioned, sitting next to Nicola as she played with her favorite pocket knife in her hands, staring what seemed like daggers right at Logan who sat across from her, sending the same glares right back.

"Sadly, that's exactly what we're saying," Brent confirmed, shuffling through papers as Clara came back in with the case file.

"They should just leave it to Universal, we've handled this kind of shit before! We've got it in the bag!" Cody exclaimed, leaning to look down at Brent, some of Abditive's agents glaring at his eagerness.

"Shut it, Cody. It's apparent we need the help if the director told them," Nicola said harshly, flicking her wrist as the blade flew out of the pocket knife's handle before she expertly tossed it up in the air and caught it back where her grip was with ease as Logan scoffed, not even amused with her antics.

"Alrighty, let's get to business!" Clara declared, finally getting seated next to Brent, the case file causing a loud thud as she dropped it. All of the Universal agents looked towards their leaders except for Nicola.

Logan had turned along with the rest of his team to look at the Universal leaders so he and his men could learn what was going on, not being informed properly on the situation at hand, clearly.

Nicola zoned out as Clara was going on about the case while she studied Logan's features.

She noted the scar she asked him about just last week over coffee.

_"So, where'd you get that nasty lookin' scar from?" Nicola asked as she slid in the booth across from Logan. He looked taken back and rose a brow._

_"The one on my forehead or my cheek?"_

_"Your cheek, you idiot. Your forehead scar was caused by yours truly," Nicola teased, smirking into her lid of her coffee as she sipped at the hot contents. Logan just let out a chuckle and shrugged, cupping a hand around his cup._

_"Just had too much fun building a shelf back at the flat, no need to worry, Nic."_

"Nicola?" Brent called once more, feeling Hugo shake her gently.

"W-What?"

"You've uh.. Stabbed the table?" Tate responded in the same tone, leaning back in his seat amusingly.

Nicola looked down at her hand that was on the conference table, definitely seeing her pocket knife deeply impaled in the wood. Nicola sighed and looked down at her fellow agents that were in her way of looking at her leaders, already over her own emotions for this afternoon.

"Sorry, take the damage off my check," Nicola said, smoothly yanking the knife out of the wood with little to no struggle, Cody along with Logan and his men slightly impressed.

"Whoa.. that was-"

"Cody," Nicola warned gently to the young boy, flicking her wrist to close her pocket knife, quickly tossing it into Tate's lap so she didn't fondle with it again. Cody mumbled a small sorry with a smile on his face before Brent cleared his throat, gaining everyone's attention once more.

" _Anyways_ , The Incessant Agency over the course of this year has become a bigger threat to America as a whole and has practically put all of the American agencies out of commission," Brent explained, taking a sheet from Clara's hands and sliding it onto the table.

It was a map of all the agencies that have called for help in America.

"We've been trying to find a pattern to their hits, but they keep going too fast-" Clara started before Nicola and Logan spoke up at the same time.

"They're not ceasing," They said, immediately glaring at each other again once they'd finished, Clara raising a brow.

"What do you mean, not ceasing?"

"The word incessant. In latin, the first half of the word, _in_ , means not," Logan explained, keeping his cold eyes locked with Nicola's.

"The second half, _cessant_ , derives from the French. It means ceasing. Together it forms _not ceasing_ ," Nicola finished, balling her hands into fists in her lap before Tate slipped her pocket knife back near her hands.

"Use the pocket knife to cut the tension, for chrissakes," He hissed, grunting when Nicola's hand firmly made contact with his shoulder, quickly taking the pocket knife back with a comment of pain before Brent cleared his throat once more.

"Thank you agents for the lesson, continuing on.." Brent trailed off almost awkwardly before the meeting was in full swing and Nicola zoned out completely, playing with her rings on her fingers before she was called out again for not paying attention.

That's how the two hour long meeting went. Either gaining Nicola's attention or having to rip Logan and Nicola from their throats.

When it hit hour three, they were all dismissed by Clara, but Nicola was told to stay back.

"Nicola, what's going on? You're usually never this spacey in a meeting," Clara questioned, genuinely concerned as they talked in the hallway, both sets of agents for the agencies going separate ways, Brent collecting papers in the conference room.

"I know, I know. I'm truly sorry it's just-"

"You didn't expect Agent Picasso to be who you were closest to?" Clara finished gently for her, raising a knowing brow. Nicola stuffed her hands into her leather jacket she finally had gotten back, nodding as she looked down at her shoes.

"Y-Yeah, that."

"I know how it feels, but you can't let this affect you, alright? We have another meeting followed by a mission conference tomorrow, and Collingwood is gonna be there, I can't have one of my best agents stabbin' tables," Clara jested lightly, smiling fondly when Nicola laughed before making eye contact.

"'S good practice though, you know it is."

"You did stab it pretty deep," Clara admitted before both women laughed, Nicola reaching a hand out to pat Clara's shoulder.

"Indeed I did. I'm gonna find Leigh, Tate and Hugo and head back to the flat. It's takeaway night and I'm _itchin'_ for Chinese," Nicola reasoned quickly pulling Clara into a quick hug before carefully moving to the empty side of the hallway, already walking to the exit.

"I'll message if any updates come about!" Clara called out to Nicola as she walked to the door, hearing her laugh before tossing up a thumbs up. Clara let out a sigh of relief before going back to Brent, who was finishing his organization of files.

"I hope Picasso and Venus don't have this tension for the meetings tomorrow," Brent said simply, placing a few sheets under another stack in a folder, his glasses almost falling off his nose. Clara let out a giggle before sitting back next to him.

"You and me both, B."

"Tate was right, about the pocket knife comment as well," Brent pressed on, shutting the folder to look up at his girlfriend. Clara just cooed affectionately, moving to sit in Brent's lap, gently pushing up his glasses on the bridge of his nose.

"Maybe we'll arrange the seating? Venus next to Mercury and Saturn, nowhere near where Picasso is sitting?" Clara suggested as Brent's grip was tight on her waist, crossing her ankles. He shrugged and looked up into her eyes.

"Anything, as long as we have no zoned out Venus."


	3. Takeaway Chats

"D'you tip the guy?" Tate questioned Hugo as he carefully shoved more of his lo mein into his face with a fork, Hugo scoffing and falling onto the couch next to Nicola.

"Of course I did, I'm not a dickhead!" Hugo exclaimed, holding a small box with a thank you logo on the side, Nicola making a noise in protest as she chewed her food with her mouth closed, Leigh's voice traveling from the small flat kitchen her and Nicola shared.

"Alcohol or sodas?" She questioned, staring into a half empty fridge, Nicola grunting as her brother smacked her arm as she swallowed, moving away from him quickly before getting up.

"You two want beers or cola's?"

"Cola's are fine, we've got meetin's tomorrow anyways," Hugo answered for him and Tate, a noise of protest coming from Tate's way before Nicola went into the kitchen where Leigh was.

"Boys want cola's or something, pass me a sprite or two?" Nicola said, tapping Leigh's hip gently so she knew who was behind her. Leigh let out a hum in response, grabbing a sprite and two coke's before handing them to Nicola.

Nicola thanked her quickly before moving back to the living room, tossing a coke to Tate who was still inhaling his food on the big comfy chair they had in the corner, passing the other to Hugo before plopping back on the couch.

"So, how are we feeling about today's news?" Tate questioned once they were all comfortable, all the food they ordered neatly slotted on the coffee table near them.

"I think it'll be fun," Leigh said, speaking after she swallowed some of her food. "One of the other agents is quite hot," she said, laughing when Nicola choked slightly on her drink.

"Christ, warn a girl when you're about to talk about hot agents!"

"Which one are you talking about?" Hugo asked out of curiosity, Tate inquiring too as Nicola placed her soda can down.

"I think it was Monet? The one with the jaw line? Kinda thin beard?"

"Oh! Yeah, yeah. He looked nice, but he wasn't the _hottest_ ," Nicola stressed, placing her box down that held some fried rice.

"That Pollock guy looks like he could snap Hugo 'nd I in _half_ ," Tate said, placing his box down to open his coke. The group laughed before agreeing.

"That reminds me, what's with you and Picasso, Nic?" Leigh asked carefully, trying not to have a replay of earlier in the day.

Nicola sighed and ran a hand through her short hair.

"Picasso and I have a bit of a history-"

"They're b-" Hugo butted in, only to get elbowed roughly by Nicola. Hugo gave her a look before rubbing where she elbowed him.

"We were friends for a short period in our lives. Things changed. That's all you need to know," she finished quickly, reaching for her fried rice as she tried to think of a better cover story to not reveal to her friends who Picasso really was to her.

"Really? The way you two were glaring at each other is making it seem more than just _that_ ," Tate started after his sip from his soda can.

"Picasso is an arrogant asshole that's probably still trying to figure out why a woman beat him in the top agent ranks in that one stupid magazine we were on the cover of, 'course I'm pissed off." Nicola cut Tate off, grabbing her chopsticks from her rice, feeling a little guilty for snapping and causing a bit of tension between their small group and just decided to pick at her fried rice.

"Simmer down, Nic. I'm sure you and Leigh like your coffee table," Hugo said casually, not even phased by his sisters temper. Nicola could hear a hint of concern in her brother's voice as Tate let out a faint snort before moving to place his can back down and grab his lo mein again.

"I personally think they should have gone with a nice yellow. Match the paint," Tate suggested, pulling his fork out of his box to pick through his noodles to completely change the subject. Nicola smiled small before Leigh spoke up.

"Hey, stop harassing our coffee table! Black goes well with it!" She huffed, wishing she had something to throw at Tate before pulling her legs up onto the couch.

That's how the group stayed for a few hours. A few jokes were thrown around, Tate was _almost_ one of the jokes that could have been thrown out the window before they called hanging out quits, since they did have things to do tomorrow.

"I'll pay you back for the food sometime next week, Hugo," Nicola insisted as she started walking Hugo and Tate to the front door of the flat, Leigh offering to clean up whatever needed to be thrown away. Hugo scoffed as he held a small bag with their leftovers.

"Please, you could _never_ be so nice," He teased before Nicola flicked his cheek fondly, quickly pulling him into a hug, Tate laughing at Hugo's cheek that had the imprint of Nicola's nail.

"Shut up, T. Don't make me mark you too."

"Nic, you would never," Tate insisted fondly as he was pulled in for a quick side hug by her.

"Oh, but I would. Now you two get home, we'll catch you at the agency in the morning," Nicola confirmed before Hugo and Tate shouted their goodbyes to Leigh before going out into the cold London night. 

Nicola sighed quietly as she shut the door, locking the locks carefully before moving to Leigh quickly who was holding all the empty boxes that was shared between the four, trying to head to the kitchen.

"Why do you always try to carry it all?" Nicola asked, a chuckle evident in her voice as Leigh let out a laugh herself, evenly dividing the empty containers between the two.

"I just wanted it all done within one trip, don't blame me," She explained, carefully maneuvering to the kitchen trash bin, Nicola close behind.

"I'm not blamin' you, I just don't wanna clean more food up, Tate's worn me out," Nicola reasoned quickly tossing her boxes in after Leigh had.

"He is a toddler," Leigh insisted, causing the pair to laugh again before moving back out into the living room to straighten up the furniture that had been moved around before they fell back into the couch again, everything looking as if they didn't have anyone over.

"You know you can talk to me about him. Or anything, for that matter, right?" Leigh said softly, looking over at Nicola. Nicola rose a brow and looked right back at Leigh.

"I know I can.. I just have so many thoughts about it.. It's extremely hard to try and vocalize how I'm feeling," Nicola said slowly, groaning before placing her face in her hands. 

"He's so.. _good_. In that article for agencies, it said he's only been in Abditive for a year, Leigh. A year. I've been here since 2013, and I'm still shit-"

"Hey, no. No self-hate. You're amazing. You're in the top three dangerous agents in Europe. Probably in the top five in the world, Nic. You're amazing at what you do. Picasso seems to be just as good, and at least the business hasn't ruined his family," Leigh reasoned gently, sitting up and placing a hand on Nicola's shoulder. 

Nicola's heart swelled at her words, feeling a little selfish now for being mad at Logan and feeling bad she can't even really tell Leigh that Picasso was actually Logan in the first place.

They were quiet as Nicola tried to find the words to explain what else she was thinking without giving too much away.

"What I don't get," Nicola started, slowly sitting up, feeling Leigh's hand slide off back to her own lap. "Is how I didn't even think he wouldn't get into the business. He seemed like the kind of guy who kept his nose down when he and I were friends ages ago. I just.. _never_ suspected him, of all people, to get in an agency, he's just too nice. At least to me he was when we were close." 

Leigh let out a low sigh and nodded, completely understanding the reasoning behind how Nicola felt.

"I guess that's just why I'm pissed? Maybe I'm just pissed because he and I had.." Nicola trailed off, trying not to give away who Picasso really was for what felt like the millionth time tonight. 

"Or maybe it's just because he's my god damn rival, which is an even better reason to be pissed?" Nicola questioned, falling back into the couch to stare at the ceiling.

"I don't fucking know anymore."

Leigh sighed and turned her body to Nicola, leaning against the armrest.

"Nic, you have the right to be pissed. You do, but leave innocent tables and a _somewhat_ innocent Tate out of it?" Leigh suggested, trying to lighten the mood.

Nicola let out a small snort followed by a smile as she rubbed her eyes with the heels of her palms.

"I'll leave the tables outta it, not Tate though. He bites back and I need the practice," She reasoned quietly before her hands fell to her lap before slowly sitting back up, Leigh smiling at the break through they've made.

"Fine by me. How about we head to bed and train after breakfast in the morning? You can be focused and not wanting to lunge at Picasso's throat at tomorrow's meetings," Leigh offered, slowly moving to get off the couch, offering a hand to Nicola.

Nicola hesitated for a moment, staring at Leigh's hand before moving to take it.

"Does this mean I can't go through my messages without getting caught by you?"

"Yes, yes it does."


	4. The Art Of Running Late

Nicola flew through the halls of the Universal Agency, already a little late on the training she was going to do with Leigh for the day. She was wearing her work out clothes she usually wore for those trainings, knowing how hard Leigh likes to go and had her drawstring bag on her back.

"Why are you running through the halls?!" Brent yelled dramatically as Nicola zoomed past him, almost causing him to drop his files. Almost.

"Training with Saturn!" She simply called back as she slowed down a bit so she could talk and keep moving. Brent just laughed.

"Meeting's at noon, that gives you three hours to train, I want you two done by eleven-thirty!" Brent shouted once more before accidentally running into a few Abditive Agents, smiling and shaking their hands before they started to walk with him and ask questions.

Nicola paused as she had just turned the corner to the huge glass room for training, leaning against the side of the wall to where only her head was visible.

"Uranus told me it was around two when I came in!" Nicola exclaimed, seeing three men that didn't belong to Universal. Agents Pollock, Van Gogh, and just her luck, Picasso. The four men turned to face her.

"Uranus probably told you the time for the mission meeting. That's at two. The noon meeting is strictly for Universal Agents only," Brent reasoned, chuckling at her sudden pause. The Abditive Agents were slightly confused with her antics, but were amused nonetheless.

Nicola just groaned loudly in response before walking off into the hall that led to the training room, the men hearing a door open and shut swiftly.

"Where was she headed?" Logan questioned, moving his hands to the pockets of his jeans, already turning his back to the way Nicola went so he didn't follow her right away. He wanted to see her train, and maybe figure out why she was above his rank.

"The training room, her and Saturn have been training a lot recently," Brent answered smoothly before directing his attention to the file he was holding.

"Don't go stalking the pretty girls, Cooper, we can't have you kicked off the agency," Jason teased quietly, clapping a hand onto Logan's shoulder before they all walked with Brent in the complete opposite direction of the room.

"It's too much of a power move, Nic! I'm not strong enough!" Leigh said, laying back on the huge training mat they laid out. Nicola stepped over Leigh's body, panting from having done the move herself, holding a hand out while the other held the fake guns.

"Yet, Leigh. You've got this in the bag! You've just gotta be quicker!" Nicola encouraged as she helped Leigh up carefully, laughing as she almost headbutted her.

"Can we just move on to something else and try this another time? It's almost eleven and if Brent said eleven-thirty-"

"I know, I know. How's about we just hit the showers now? I don't wanna work myself up and I think we've earned it," Nicola insisted gently, smiling widely at the younger agent.

"Sounds good to me, you need help cleaning up?"

"Nah, I got it. You go ahead and use up as much hot water as possible," Nicola teased in response, grabbing and tossing Leigh's bag her way. Leigh caught it with a small huff before smiling wide and rushing quickly to the door of the gym, jumping back a bit when Logan had just opened it.

"Oh, good morning Agent Picasso," Leigh said kindly and out of breath, slinging her bag over her shoulder before Logan sent a smile and nod back as Nicola looked up into the mirror in front of her, seeing the two interacting.

"Morning, Agent Saturn."

Leigh's smile turned into a full grin before she quickly moved behind him to get to the showers, mouthing a quick apology to Nicola before she left, Logan walking in with a big smirk on his face.

"Good morning, Agent Picasso," Nicola said as even as she could manage, shifting her eyes back to where she was placing the wooden guns back in their rightful spots before Logan made eye contact with her through the mirror. She heard Logan chuckle quietly.

"Good morning, Nicola," He said, Nicola quickly turning to look up at him, suddenly feeling a little too exposed in her form fitting tank top and leggings.

"It's Agent Venus, to you," She huffed back in response, moving past him to start working on rolling up the mat she and Leigh had laid out.

"What do you want anyways? You know this is the training room."

"I wanted to see why one of my best friends has ranked just a step above me, am I not allowed to find out?" He questioned, moving off of the mat to look at the gun decoy's. Nicola sighed as she kneeled down, starting to roll the mat up.

"Haven't you read the papers?  _'Agent Venus: The Black Widow Of The Twenty-First Century,'_ surely you've read it," Nicola said, not even grunting as she quickly rolled it the rest of the way, stopping it before it could unravel, Logan turning quickly to help her catch it.

"I most certainly have, but never did I expect Nicola Sexton behind it," Logan reasoned carefully. He was genuinely impressed with her work and joined because of all the things he'd read about Agent Venus. Yet, here he was, face to face with his close friend who could easily snap his neck like a toothpick.

Nicola rose a brow and started to move the mat to stand, Logan only helping a very small bit.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean, Cooper?"

"It means," He started, moving out of her way when she started to push the mat into the missing spot next to the others. "It means that I didn't assume you were the type to become an agent. Hugo? Sure, but you?"

"Sounds like you're judging my choices, just like high school, all over again," Nicola mumbled angrily before the mat was in place. Logan sighed, a sign he was clearly annoyed.

"You never usually seek a fight, you're usually more introverted when you're just..."

"Not acting like an Agent?" Nicola finished for him, a little shocked at what he was saying. She scoffed as she moved past him once more, grabbing her bag before slinging it over her shoulder and turning back to look at Logan.

"You know what I mean by that!"

"No, actually, Logan, I don't. It seems like you're astonished that I could even get this good at a profession. Thank you for your input, but it's a shame that I've got to dash before Saturn takes all the hot water and before my meeting so," Nicola said before starting to make her way to the door, only to be stopped by Logan placing a hand on her wrist gently.

Nicola turned to look over her shoulder, seeing Logan's apologetic face.

"You're an amazing agent, and I always thought you'd get an acting career. That's why I'm shocked," He said carefully before Nicola sent him a small smile.

"You're not too bad yourself, but I'd like a real answer sometime," Nicola replied casually before gently pulling her wrist from his grasp and moving to open the door, to be met with a smiling Leigh who was talking to a few of the Abditive Agents as she wrapped her hair up with a towel, her clothes slightly damp.

"Save any hot water, Saturn?" Nicola questioned, moving into the hall so Logan could get out. She groaned dramatically before smacking Nicola's shoulder.

"Yes, I saved you hot water. You've got ten minutes to shower though," Leigh said. Nicola's eyes widened before she looked around for a clock on the wall as Logan walked out of the training room, quickly grabbing his arm that had the watch on it, seeing that she did indeed have ten minutes.

"Damn it all," Nicola mumbled before letting go of Logan's arm, quickly jogging to the shower.

"If I'm not done in ten, tell Jupiter I had to get my phone!"

"You have your phone though?" Leigh called back as Nicola shoved the door open, shooting her a glare.

"Saturn!" She said, her authoritative voice that only comes out in missions slipping past her lips, the Abditive Agents laughing as Leigh threw her a thumbs up quickly, the ten minutes now going down to nine as Nicola rushed into the shower room.

"Is she always like that? Late for everything?" Logan questioned as he let the door shut behind him.

Leigh just laughed.

"Just for today, yes."


	5. Damp Meetings

Nicola was in the meeting room just when the clock struck noon. Her clothes were sticking to her wet skin, her bag bouncing against her back with her hair up in a towel, but her fellow agents and friends have seen her way worse and way more exposed.

"Fantastic timing, Nic," Brent said, holding back a chuckle at how exasperated she looked as he sat back in his chair, Clara not next to him. Nicola just rolled her eyes.

"Shut it, I'm here, let's get this over with so my hair can actually be dry, please," Nicola said, huffing as she moved to the empty seat near Tate and Cody, the table now finally full.

"I couldn't have said it better," Hugo responded, sounding pissed off himself. Nicola looked over at her brother and rose a brow along with her right hand once her bag on the floor near her feet, doing a small saluting motion his way.

_What's wrong?_

Hugo made a gesture with his hand back in response.

_Later._

"As we're all aware, us Universal Agents are combined with the Abditive's now," Brent started, starting to sit up straight. "And that means that now we all share the agency building with them."

"Why are we having to share building's now? If you don't mind my asking," Tate asked as he placed his hands in his lap.

"Collingwood mansion has been... eradicated," Brent said slowly, everyone gasping.

"Is this why we're all coming together now?" Hugo questioned, sitting up straight while a few agents mumbled to themselves.

"Did Collingwood actually live there? I'm assuming not," Nicola said, now extremely concerned for the whole agency.

"Yes, Hugo, that's why we're all coming together, and he has his own home, Nicola-"

"Is that why we're trying to hunt down The Incessant Agency?" Cody asked. Everybody stopped and looked over at the late teen.

Brent rose a brow and leaned closer over to him.

"What makes you say that, Mars?"

Cody sunk back into his chair a little, seeing all the agents lean closer, hearing him out.

"W-Well, it's just uh.. Ironic? Innit? Having the Abditive's join us right after they lose their headquarters? How we've just been informed of the Incessant Agency? You and Uranus usually keep us up to date on what agencies are doing, and we're just now hearing about Incessant," Cody explained, slowly sitting back up as everybody kept staring at him, trying to digest what he'd just said. Everybody snapped their heads to Brent who stood up and slammed his hands onto the table.

"You're brilliant, Cody! Absolutely brilliant!" He said loudly, moving to kiss his head before rushing out of the meeting room with his files, leaving the meeting door wide open, all of the agents looking at one another before Cody spoke up.

"D-Did I do good?"

Nicola was the first to start laughing, removing her hair from her towel wrap to wrap an arm around his shoulder, her damp hair hitting the fabric of her long sleeve she was wearing.

"Cody, you did  _great,"_  She said, laughing when Cody looked up at her as if he'd just won the lottery.

"Yeah, kid. None of us thought of that, clearly," Hugo said, smiling fondly at the interaction before getting up.

"I'm going to see if I can hunt down Brent, he's probably looking up more information and I'd like to take a good look at it," Nina said, laughing before getting up and starting to walk to the door.

"Cody, would you like to come with?" She offered, turning around so her back was facing the open doorway. Cody just nodded quickly and carefully removed Nicola's arm from around him before he got up, practically buzzing as he and Nina started to walk down the hall.

"Guess that counts this meetin' done. I'm gonna go out and get something to eat, anyone wanna come with?" Tate offered as he slowly got out of his seat. Leigh made a noise of agreement as Nicola kept drying her hair with her towel once more.

"Hugo? Nicola? You wanna come with?" Tate asked, starting to slowly walk to the door as Leigh got up, grabbing her bag.

"Nah, I'll be good you two go have fun," Nicola said, groaning as she dropped her towel onto the floor. Tate and Leigh laughed before asking Hugo one more time if he wanted to go.

"I'm good, T. I've actually gotta talk to Nicola about some stuff, but if you could bring us back somethin' that'd be nice. Just shoot me a text on where you go and be back by two for the mission meeting we have." Hugo sounded a little less harsh than he did earlier in the meeting now, Tate making a pouty face before high-fiving Hugo's outstretched hand.

"Fine, I'll grab you both something, and  _no_  paybacks! Free of charge!" He exclaimed, pointing at Nicola as he and Leigh exited now, leaving the siblings alone.

Nicola leaned down in her chair to grab her towel from the floor, seeing Hugo stretching as she came back up.

"What's going on? Is something up with Mum and Dad?" Nicola asked, pushing her chair out from the table with her sock clad feet. Hugo chuckled a bit and shook his head.

"No, I hope not. It's your turn to call them this weekend anyways."

"Yeah, I'm calling them later today, don't worry," She started, her voice sounding concerned as she stood, holding the dirty towel to her side, "are you okay?"

Hugo sighed and carefully got up from his chair, clearing his throat.

"Yeah, I'm just gettin' sick."

"You're never agitated when you get sick. You're either trying to find a way to tell me something and stalling or you want to ask me a question, Hugo," Nicola explained gently as she to move towards her brother carefully. Hugo ran his hands through his hair, a sign of annoyance in his body language.

"I'm just.." Hugo started before leaning on the table with his arms as support before looking up at his sister as she finally came to his side, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Are we sure that we can trust Collingwood? I just have this gut feeling.."

Nicola sighed and gently squeezed Hugo's shoulder.

"I don't know if we can, Hugo. All we can do right now is just trust Brent and Clara's judgement," Nicola said carefully, Hugo taking in a deep breath as he tightened his grip on the table.

"But what if-"

"Don't go questioning our superiors, Hugh," Nicola chastised fondly, moving her hand from his shoulder to playfully smack his scruffy cheek. Hugo and Nicola laughed softly at the noise before Hugo shook his head.

"I can't help it, Nic, I just have a bad feeling," Hugo explained as he glanced up at his sister.

"Well maybe you could talk to Clara and Brent about it? They're probably with Nina and Cody, though."

Hugo let out another huffy sigh as he finally stood straight, looking down slightly at his sister as her hand went to grip the opposite end of the towel she had.

"I might. I don't know."

"Well, know that I'm not your therapist, and don't keep the feeling you're having bottled up since the chances are that Clara might have them too, and remember to text me whenever Tate and Leigh are back. The training has me  _starving._ " Nicola started to wind up her towel in her hands, moving away from Hugo so she could have some space to try and snap the towel at his back.

Hugo quickly moved into the empty chair closest to him to not get hit by the towel just as it moved to make contact with him, letting out a loud chuckle as he rolled away slowly from Nicola. Nicola smiled widely his way before moving to hold the towel under her arm and make her way back to her seat and grab her bag.

"Next time you harass me with a towel,  _you're_  gonna need a therapist," Hugo quipped as Nicola placed her bag onto the table top to open it and grab her phone.

"Jokes on you," Nicola started, starting to smirk as she pressed the home button to see a few notifications on her lockscreen. "I've already got a therapist. I'll be in the lounge area relaxing. Maybe watching Netflix. Remember to text me!" Nicola pointed her brothers way before closing her bag up and slinging it onto her back before she made her way to the door, hearing Hugo's confirmation.

She smiled to herself and started to walk down the hall, casually flipping her phone between her hands as she looked at some of the awards that decorated the walls.

Most belonged to Clara and Brent, a few addressed to Nina and herself. There was a magazine cover on the wall at one point near the hall that led to the lounge. It had all of the Universal Agency members on it in formal wear. That was the magazine that published the article on the top agents.

Nicola stopped in front of it and reread a few of the headlines that accompanied them on the cover before letting a smile take over her features, turning down the hall as she moved her attention to her phone, unlocking it and deciding to text Leigh.

As she was typing up her message she walked into the big lounging area where the comfortable couches were, hearing a quiet conversation already being had in the corner of the room. She glanced up slightly to check if she was near the couch she usually lays on when she's waiting between meetings and moved quickly to sit down on it, glancing up from her phone to see who was sitting in the corner near the window overlooking the area the building was in.

It was Picasso, Van Gogh, and Pollock. They were eating lunch together for the day and the men were speaking at a respectful volume. She didn't really expect that. She expected them to be disrespectful like other agents in Europe are, yet they all seem like well brought up men.

Nicola just shook her head and sighed once her text to Leigh sent, locking her phone and placing it down next to her leg before starting to pull her bag out from behind her to dig around for her earbuds when she heard Van Gogh say her real name instead of her agent name.

Nicola tried not to seem phased, there's  _no way_  Logan would actually break the code that was explained in the meeting yesterday. He's  _too good a person_  just like herself, so he wouldn't dare. Nicola kept digging until she felt the chord and tugged gently, grimacing as she almost pulled her workout clothes out with it before quickly shutting it, trying to mind her own business until she heard Logan speak up.

"Nicola's good, she's been busy with work. Why do you ask?"

"I'm just asking, you seem in a shit mood since you talked with Venus in the training room," Van Gogh said, sounding genuinely concerned as he uncapped his water and took a sip, Pollock humming in agreement before swallowing and speaking.

"Yeah, what did she do? Kick your ass a little  _too_  hard?" He joked before both Van Gogh and himself laughed. Logan forced a laugh before he looked over to his right, seeing that Nicola was definitely in the room and occupying the couch that was just across the room near the hall they entered from that he'd used to look off and ignore his friends comments.

He watched a small smirk grow onto her face once they made eye contact, Nicola smoothly placing her earbuds into her ears before plugging them into her phone, keeping her smug look on her face before Logan cleared his throat to reply.

"She and I just exchanged a few words. She gave me a few pointers on some moves. Even talked about her article in the Daily Mail." Logan poked around at his food that was in the small to go container, fairly certain that Nicola could still hear the conversation, having just put her earbuds in to fool Van Gogh and Pollock.

"Oh, that article about how she's practically Black Widow?"

"You act like there's a lot of articles about Agent Venus," Logan said, letting out a small laugh as he looked up at his friends, dropping his fork.

Van Gogh shrugged as he leaned back in his chair, still holding his bottle.

"There may as well be, my niece's never  _shut up_  about her when I visit," Van Gogh spoke once more, tossing the bottle between his hands as Logan laughed.

"She's a good role model, at least they're not looking up to some drugged out celebrity," Logan defended casually, glancing back to where Nicola was only to see that she was gone. He straightened up in his seat slightly, feeling a little disappointed.

"Yeah, if they did I'd probably  _never_  visit again. Imagine that? Kids looking up to some dickhead youtuber or somethin'." Van Gogh just shook his head. Pollock made a remark back to what Van Gogh had said when Logan felt his phone vibrate.

He was quick to pull it out of his front pocket, hitting his lock button to see the notification center, seeing a message from Nicola. He tapped on the display to read the entirety of it.

_You poor baby. I kicked your ass too hard, didn't I?_

Logan held back a groan and rolled his eyes before just leaving her on read and locking his phone up again as he pocketed it, Van Gogh smirking.

"What? She text you?"

"Maybe, what's it to you?"

"You've got that look in your eye whenever you talk about how amazing she looked the other day when you hung out, or! That one day when you couldn't  _stop_   _looking_  at how pretty her  _makeup looked-_ "

"Alright, alright, I get it. Yeah, she texted me," Logan sighed aggressively, moving to cross his arms over his chest. He was extremely thankful that Nicola wasn't in the room to hear his friends teasing or else he'd have a lot more explaining to do besides figuring out how to apologize for earlier.


End file.
